Details, Details
by lookwithyourheart
Summary: If one single scene in the book had been altered a little bit, how would the rest of the book have played out?


As she strode through the forecourt of Colwen Grounds, she crossed paths once again with Glinda. But both women averted their eyes and hurried their feet along their opposing ways. For the witch, the sky was a huge boulder pushing down on her. For Glinda it was much the same. But Glinda wheeled about, and cried out, "Oh, Elphie!"*

The Witch did not turn, but she did not keep going along her path. She simply stood, unmoving, glaring at the cement beneath her black boots.

"Oh, Elphie, I didn't mean it!" Glinda came up behind Elphaba. "If I had known those shoes meant so much to you, you know I wouldn't have given them away! I'm truly sorry." When the witch remained silent, she continued. "You can still get them back, you know. If we catch up to the child and send her home like she wants you can have them. Oh, Elphaba, please don't be bitter."

"I am not bitter, Glinda."

"Yes you are! You feel like you're always second best to someone, Nessarose, and now Dorothy. Well, let me be the first to tell you, that is absolutely not true!" The Witch saw heavy guilt in Glinda's eyes. Why was she denying it? Every one knew it was the case. Elphaba had always been second best. Her parents loved her younger sister more, her classmates had much preferred her roommate to her, and her own son liked the new arrival in Oz more than he liked his mother. Yes, she supposed, if it came down to it, Liir would help the girl Dorothy before he would help his own mother.

"Glinda," she began. "You will be the first and last person to tell me that lie. I was just destined to be second best, silver medal. Those shoes are a reminder of what second place is for – taking over when the winner isn't there. I need those shoes."

"I'll help you get them, then. Dorothy trusts me, she'll surely give them back to me," the woman in pink stated, smoothing her voluminous skirt. "What are we waiting for? Let's go and get you your trophy, Elphie."

**Chapter 5**

When the two of them arrived at the Chuffrey estate, Glinda only had to snap her fingers before two clockwork machines sped out to the courtyard. The Witch was a little bit weary, as the last clockwork machine she had known had murdered Ama Clutch, but she let them take her coat. Glinda's high heels clicked on the white marble floors of the entryway, and Elphaba had a moment of feeling self conscious. She made sure to wipe her combat boots well before following Glinda into the study.

"Now," she began. "I happen to know the girl was walking west, as I set her along the Yellow Brick Road to get to the Wizard."

Elphaba dropped the glass paperweight she had been turning through her fingers. "Oh, Glinda, you didn't send her to him!"

"Well, I didn't want her around here. She wanted to get home, it isn't in my power to get her there, and after all, Munchkinland is in the middle of a large political change. Besides, the sooner those shoes leave this land, the happier the townsfolk will be. Have you seen the propaganda they've been putting up? 'Walk all over you, you old witch.' 'Now the shoe's on the other foot.' There would have been an uprising," she said, and took a pained look at the fragments of glass on the floor. "Elphie, can you go and get Freetick? You know, the bronze clockwork. He's for cleaning. The other one is for cooking and other household duties."

"Glinda, these are the same types of machines that killed Ama Clutch! Are you sure you want them lurking around your house? I can clean it up myself."

"Feel free. You know, they've advanced since then. Elphaba, I have to contact some of Sir Chuffrey's chums. I know quite a few that live along the Yellow Brick Road, so we just need to drop in on a few of them and ask where the girl has gone. There's a good chance she's well along her way. In fact, she may even have gotten to the Emerald City by now," Glinda said.

"In that case, we have to leave now, your husband's friends aside. Those shoes _can not_ reach the wizard. It is absolutely vital," the Witch responded. So the two school friends set off in search of the newcomer to Oz together. They didn't chitchat, as so much had happened in the years they had been apart that there was nothing to talk about. If they did speak, it was only of the plan, only of the girl. Glinda told Elphaba that there were three other accomplices, a tin man, a scarecrow, and a Lion.

"I'm sure it was a Lion," she said. "If it were a lion, Dorothy and the others would have been torn to threads by now."

"I've always had a fondness for Lions," Elphaba responded distantly. "Do you recall when Fiyero first came to the Shiz? During that lesson, Docter Nikidik brought in the Lion cub and asked us to identify it. We couldn't, of course, as it wasn't full grown. Those were crazy times."

"Mm," Glinda said in agreement, seeming her age as she huffed and puffed, trying to get enough air.

The two witches walked down the Yellow Brick Road, silent. "Elphaba?" Glinda eventually said.

"Yes?"

"Promise me one thing."

"What?"

"Remember that you were once a young girl too."

The Witch remembered. However, it didn't change her frame of mind in the slightest.

*taken directly from the book


End file.
